Take Care Of You First Physically And Mentally
Americans are finding it to be the norm to work 2 or 3 jobs per individual just to make ends meet. The normal job is behind a desk. Technology has made many aspects of life easier. Or could this be farther than the truth? Americans are becoming more over weight. Stress levels seem to be higher. Being physically active is becoming less, even our children are less active.
One minute after you awake you start spinning like a top and it does not stop until your eyes are closed. You start feeling like life is out of control and you can’t seem to catch a break even for five minutes. There are times you wish you could just through in the towel and hibernate. Other days seem to just pass by like a blink of an eye. How can you handle all of life’s challenges? How can you enjoy what life has to offer? The answer is you have to take care of you first, physically and mentally.
Even though there are days you wish you could quit your job, and be lounging on a tropical island with a frozen cocktail. The warm sun shinning on you while you are enjoying your favorite book. The peaceful sounds of the waves crashing gently on the shore is like soft music in the distance. There is no stress, no worries, nowhere to go. Back to reality. This is probably not feasible. If it were you probably would not be sitting reading this article.
If you take care of you first, physically and mentally you will find life to be easier. You will be able to enjoy the extra time you will have with your children and spouse. You will find that there will be more time to do the things that you enjoy. Maybe it’s reading a book or watching a movie without falling asleep. Maybe you would enjoy playing outdoor games with you children. What ever it is that you like to do, you will be able to enjoy it more if you take care of yourself.
Believe In Yourself
You need to believe that you can accomplish any goal that you have. You need to start believing that you are worth having the life that you dream of. With a plan, desire and the power in believing in yourself, you will be successful. There will be many obstacles that will arise. Stay focused on what really matters to you and don’t let go.
If your goal is to lose 10 pounds, first write down a time frame. In two months I will be 10 pounds lighter. Think about how it will feel being that new weight. Visualize how you will look in the mirror while you are getting ready for a date night with your husband. Live everyday like you already have accomplished that goal. Remind yourself every morning about the days tasks to get you to your final destination. Go to bed proud that you have done everything necessary to get you one day closer to the new you.
Make A Game Plan
Taking care of yourself first also means making your life less stressful. The more stress in your life the less time you will find you have. You will always feel like you are running and not getting anywhere. Projects will start pilling up until one day you want to explode. You need to take the time to make a game plan for your days. You might be saying that you don’t even have time to enjoy a hot cup of coffee. That is without cream and sugar of course. You will soon realize that if you have your day planned out you will accomplish more than you ever thought posable. Stress will be less. You will not have to be thinking of ten different things at once. Piece of mind, know what needs to be done and do it.
Start off with writing down your goal. Yes, write it down on paper. This makes your goal real. Now it is documented. Now you have to decide a time frame of when you want your goal to be accomplished. Be realistic. You do not want to set yourself up to fail. Having your goal achieved 3 months later than you wanted is better than never achieving it.
Now that you have your goal and time frame documented, you need to come up with a game plan on how you will accomplish this task. Everyday needs to have a blueprint of the steps you need to take to bring you to the next level. With these in place now focus on all other aspects of your life. Work, children, husband and free time need to be planned out. If the daily tasks are not scheduled something will get missed. Guess what? Here comes the stress again. We are trying to eliminate as much unnecessary stress as we can.
Plan For Fun Time
If you have children or work a highly demanding job you soon realize there is no fun time. A week goes by which soon turns into a month. Even months can pass by without you finding time to unwind. Fun time has to planned as well as daily projects. Funtime is beneficial to your mind and body. You need to plan for a certain amount of time each week for you to go and enjoy time with your loved ones to create memories. The last thing you want is to be sitting in a chair and realize that life has passed you by and you have no memories. Plan fun times and create memories for you and the people in your life.
Exercise
For you to be mentally strong you need to be physically strong. Your health is worth more than all the gold in the world. If you had all of the gold in the world and you were not able to enjoy it because you were in constant pain, could not breath well, spending the day taking medication, and need to sit after walking up 10 stairs, would you enjoy it? I believe most people would rather have enough money to live comfortable and support their family. To be able to enjoy doing all of the things that they enjoy in life. Feeling like they have the energy of a 20 year old, not masking their pain with Advil and taking a handful of meds.
You need to take care of your body. This means inside and out. You do not want to just look good on the outside. You also want to feel good on the inside. ACSM recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week. At least two days a week should be a resistance program. This is only 30 minutes a day for 5 days a week. Your health is well worth the time invested. With the extra time that you have saved during the day with you daily planner, you will be able to schedule 30 minutes a day of physical activity for your health.
Find activities that you enjoy. Make it a social event. Make this time to be with your spouse and catch up on how their day went. Do some physical activities with your children and create memories for them. Teach them the importance of being active.
Enjoy Every Minute Of The Day
It is your life. Enjoy every minute of it. Take control of your days. Create your path in life towards your final destination. Don’t ever let go of who you are and what you stand for. Take care of your body, always smile and love.
Best of health and happiness,
